The following was my response to a young man who wrote me regarding his past travails of broken relationship, heart attack, major illness and economic woes  going back nearly a decade.

Scott,

You’ll only have peace of mind and heart when you realize that “all things work together for good, for them that love God.” Not some things, but ALL things. That’s why your are asked to “Let the fruit of your lips be the sacrifice of Praise and in all things give thanks”, the Scriptures tell us.

Sacrifice means giving up your egos perception of what you think is good, or evil and trusting in the ALLness of God, or Good, which is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. (all power, all knowing and all present). Your dwelling on the past failures, sickness, heart attack, broken relationships is evil. Spell live backwards and you have evil, spell lived backwards and you have Devil. The truth is in the now and to know God is to be in the present, which can bring you into His Presence. As Christ said, “let the dead go bury the dead.” What is past is dead and gone, your future will be determined by your state of mind that is dwelling in the NOW, dwelling on the GOOD. “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are holy, if there be any virtue and praise THINK ON THESE THINGS. Get your mind out of the gutter of the past and start living, loving and laughing.